[Vision2020] K-12 online courses not popular in Moscow

Tom Hansen thansen at moscow.com
Wed Aug 17 05:20:58 PDT 2011


Courtesy of today's (August 17, 2011) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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K-12 online courses not popular in Moscow

State board takes comments about reform proposal

A couple of dozen area school officials and members of the public attended an Idaho State Board of Education hearing Tuesday afternoon in Moscow to learn and speak about proposed online course requirements for the state's high school students.

Most of those who testified seemed skeptical of the feasibility of any sort of mandated online course, let alone the two credits the board is proposing.

The Idaho Legislature tasked the board with developing online course requirements, and once the board finishes taking public comment and makes any necessary adjustments, the rules will be fowarded to the 2012 Legislature for consideration.

"This is not a hearing to go back and rehash whether the legislation should or shouldn't have been passed," board spokesman Mark Browning said.

In addition to Browning, the hearing was staffed by board member Bill Goesling of Moscow and Allison McClintick, the board's K-12 and education policy manager.

If the online course requirement is approved as currently proposed, high school students beginning with the class of 2016 will be required to take two credits of online courses before graduating.

At least one of the courses would have to be asynchronous, which means teachers and students aren't in the classroom at the same time. Each student involved would access and complete online course materials depending on his or her individual schedule.

Bob Celebrezze, principal of Moscow High School, said the move to offer more online classes is already a given in most high schools, but requiring all students to take them simply seems like a way for the state to save money on instruction.

"I find it shameful," he said.

He asked the board to reject any kind of online class mandate and said students need contact with professional educators in a classroom setting on a daily basis.

LaDene Edwards, music teacher at Lena Whitmore Elementary School in Moscow, agreed that money shouldn't be the determining reason for requiring online classes.

"It should be what students need to be the best citizens for the future," she said.

She said some of the K-12 reforms that were passed this year seem to come out of the philosophy that "we're going to do more with less," which she said isn't fair to students.

Several school officials from rural districts expressed concerns about the proposed rule that schools that offer online courses over the Idaho Educational Network won't be able to count those courses as part of the mandate for their own students.

Genesee Superintendent Wendy Moore said she would hesitate to promote and support programs that aren't benefiting students in her district. She said it would be ridiculous for a Genesee teacher to have to take time out of his or her day to teach a class that's available for other schools but not his or her own.

"I'm going to have a hard time supporting that unless it changes for our districts," she said.

Doug Flaming, superintendent of the Nez Perce School District, said 85-90 percent of high school students there already take at least one online class because of the district's rural location.

He shared Moore's sentiments that there isn't much incentive to be an originating site for an online course if it can't be counted for credit within the same building.

Erica Kemery, Nez Perce Junior-Senior High School principal, agreed. She said the rule seems to send a message that teachers can't be trusted to maintain the online requirements of classes they teach to their own students.

She said teachers who work at rural schools aren't there because they couldn't get a job elsewhere - they're there because they enjoy the rural lifestyle.
"But for them, it's almost like a punishment," she said about the proposed rule.

John Lawrence, a University of Idaho professor and father of a 13-year-old girl, encouraged the board to pursue maximum flexibility for schools and students.

He said his daughter is enrolled in an online program through Johns Hopkins University, and he hoped that those credits would satisfy the state's online course requirements. He said he doesn't want to take a "one-size-fits-all" approach to online courses.

MHS student Kadin McGreevy said he feared a demise in creativity among students if they are required to focus more on online learning.

He said "every kid in my school likes multiple choice tests because they're easy" and that computers grade assignments based on how they've been programmed.

"A computer can't teach me any valuable lessons unless it's been programmed to," he said.

He told an anecdote about putting a tie on a computer, setting it in front of a whiteboard and watching a presentation on the computer.

He described raising his hand when he had a question, but the computer didn't recognize the hand and ignored the question.

McGreevy said when it comes time for students to accept awards for their accomplishments, it won't be their online classes they thank for the support and encouragement.

"Computers aren't programmed to love what they do," he said.

The board's hearing in Moscow was one of seven held across the state this month.

Browning said he was "beyond disappointed in the turnout" in Idaho Falls, where only two people attended the hearing. In Pocatello, 11 people showed up, he said, but turnout was better in Coeur d'Alene.

People who didn't testify in person may submit comments about the proposed rules through Monday to the board via Traci Bent at P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0037 ortracie.bent at osbe.idaho.gov.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown

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